The new belt is so much better it's not even funny. Can't believe people actually think it's worse.

So how is the 'Mania card shaping up? Jericho/Ryback is on, I guess? Sheamus/Henry is being talked about, apparently. Where in the Hell all this leaves Orton I have no idea. Maybe Big Show knocks him out or something.

Sheamus interrupting Barrett last night make it seems like that will be his Mania opponent. Maybe Orton/Henry continues? They haven't REALLY resolved that since Orton got the DQ on Smackdown and the EC match wasn't one-on-one.

Originally posted by JustinShapiro"Assistant To The" jokes legit make me feel bad for them. Like, that reference is from 2006. 2001 if you count the BBC. Brad Maddox is going to put the new title belt in jelly. Brad's What She Said. In five years, Bo Dallas and Roman Reigns will be doing Troy & Abed In The Morning secret handshakes.

It was especially awful because you could tell everyone involved thought it was very funny. Except maybe Maddox, who is inscrutable and beyond all of our simple human comprehension skills. That said, I wouldn't argue if we got a "Brad Maddox Investigates!" angle out of this, nor if they had Maddox deliver the line "Will there ever be a boy born who can swim faster than a shark?" Also, John Cena should develop an evil second personality.

Originally posted by CruelAngel777Haha at Ambrose's facial expressions and selling. Him taking baby steps while doubled over walking towards Seth Rollins after their match was the greatest!

And Rollins trying Officer And A Gentleman Ambrose over the barricade right after that. I'm not quite sure what I make of Ambrose selling the Walls of Jericho like that, but it did pay off Cole's "Dean Ambrose is a weird dude!", which was amazing. And The Shield continues to be incredibly entertaining whenever they get in the ring.

If this is how we're getting to Jericho/Ryback at Wrestlemania, it's clear that "Let's do Jericho/Ryback at Wrestlemania!" was as weird an unmotivated to them as it was to us when the rumor hit last week. Unless the reveal is that Jericho is tied to The Shield in some way (either sending them in for unknown reasons in the first place, or just taking over financing them now for different, equally unknown reasons), that was one of the most half-assed, non-shampoo related WM feud kickoffs I can think of.

Has Jericho had any interaction with The Shield before? I guess I can appreciate them trying to explain it with Jericho's mention of having lived through the nWo and Nexus, but aside from the rumblings of wanting to end the John Cena Problem, The Shield hasn't been an organization-threatening problem yet, especially with the reveal that CGI Heyman just paid them a lot. If they were that threatening, it makes Cena and Rock seem more irresponsible for not teaming up to get rid of them before focusing on Cena vs. Rock: Retaliation.

Of all the weird technical and pacing flubs, the one that kinda bugged me the most in the end was them switching away from Punk right as he delivered his great "...I want that one!" line after throwing down the spinner belt.

Still dreading Lesnar/HHH II build-up, but they did a fine job logically setting up the pieces for it next week, with Heyman presumably whispering to Punk that he could get Brock there next week for the match with Cena in the opening segment and Vince later declaring he'd be there for a fight, which is a perfectly valid reason for HHH to be sure to show up if we assume that he's not necessarily there at all times, as I think we're supposd to. The Road To Pointing At The Wrestlemania Sign begins here!

I worry that the Zeb gimmick is overshadowing Swagger. I like Swagger in the abstract, but he brings little to the table, so little that he can easily be nudged aside by a strong manager gimmick. And Zeb is getting the big push. ZEB, not Swagger.

"You talk business, I handle business" might be Cena's best turn of phrase in years.

Henry/Khali is not an angle I can get behind, but it gives Henry something to do before his Mania match is made. I wonder if the WWE thinks they can curb his burgeoning popularity by pitting him against Khali. That presumes Khali is such a fan favorite that the audience will again hate Henry. I don't think that's the case.

I like the new belt. But that logo suggests the one worked up for the network won't be unveiled anytime soon.

Originally posted by Matt TrackerI worry that the Zeb gimmick is overshadowing Swagger. I like Swagger in the abstract, but he brings little to the table, so little that he can easily be nudged aside by a strong manager gimmick. And Zeb is getting the big push. ZEB, not Swagger.

"You talk business, I handle business" might be Cena's best turn of phrase in years.

Henry/Khali is not an angle I can get behind, but it gives Henry something to do before his Mania match is made. I wonder if the WWE thinks they can curb his burgeoning popularity by pitting him against Khali. That presumes Khali is such a fan favorite that the audience will again hate Henry. I don't think that's the case.

I like the new belt. But that logo suggests the one worked up for the network won't be unveiled anytime soon.

Yeah, Henry squashed Khali last week, dominated him in every way, but then backs off from him this week? That's Killing A Face Turn 101.

It pretty much IS the gimmick vs. Del Rio, almost anyone could be plugged into Swagger's role. I like Swagger, and am glad he is back, but they can't just yank him from TV for 6 months and expect me to forget he jobbed hard for a year prior. But, it's a fresh feud with (kinda) new guys, so I will take it. Plus I have been a Dutch fan pretty much my entire life.

I think the Henry response works differently for the two live audiences. Those in-person (except maybe those in the first two rows behind him) don't get to hear Mark's comments. Those watching TV do, and Henry's comments made me like him. Seeing it in person, Mark looks cowardly. On TV, he's the cool heel. Confident, not a weasel. Like Undertaker shrugging off Flair's challenge way back.

Originally posted by dwatersFunny to see Jericho reference The Nexus with former member Ryback/Skip Sheffield standing right there.

It would be fun to see Wade Barrett get the band back together to try and stop The Shield.

I like the idea of Ryback, with his back against the wall and nothing else working, forming an uneasy truce with his former Nexus leader Wade Barrett in a last-ditch attempt to stop The Shield. But then you'd have to a) acknowledge that Ryback was Skip Sheffield, and b) find a third ex-Nexus person for that match. Daniel Bryan is the biggest name, but he was only in Nexus for one night and has other stuff to deal with. Heath Slater and Darren Young are occupied with 3MB and PTP. Justin Gabriel seems to be off the grid. Has David Otunga been on TV since the Rumble?

EDIT: Any outcome that results in the return of Michael Tarver is encouraged. He is the product.

It would be pretty great to see Michael Tarver just walking around backstage for like three weeks. Wade Barrett can do a comedic double take at one point, and we then get to see his mind working on the idea. Next thing you know, The Shield is being attacked in the entry way by Slater, Bryan and Gabriel, and the rest join in. After a few weeks of this, you could even have a vignette where The Shield tries to pay off Paul Heyman in order to procure the services of Brock Lesnar and CM Punk in their feud.

Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you...

Originally posted by JustinShapiroAw man not Jericho/Ryback.

Originally posted by Amos CochranJericho/Ryback is on, I guess?

Don't think we need to worry about this happening. Jericho's going to be gone for the next two weeks touring Australia with Fozzy and I think they'll pick up with Ziggler in earnest when he gets back.

smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated(Holds; June 18, 2006)While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.

Just a few thoughts on the new WWE Championship belt. First, I don't hate it & am definitely in the "better than the spinner" camp. I read up on the design process & they used the 3-d mill at Orange County Choppers to cut the billet for the main facet. Like the belt or hate it a lot of effort went into not just the design but the execution as well. Second, it's designed to look good on t.v. & to the live audience, even the people up in the rafters. The WW Logo is distinctive and visible and & the gems will be refracting light all over the place. The Rock's bulls do indeed appear to be some form of personalization allowed. Third, as some wrestlers pointed out on Facebook, low level Indy promotions won't just be able to buy a replica belt ( of varying quality down to the ones they sell a K-Mart ) and slap a few stickers on it to use as their own.

Originally posted by dwatersIt would be fun to see Wade Barrett get the band back together to try and stop The Shield.

I doubt we'll be seeing The Nexus anytime soon.

My guess? If The E can't stop those babyface pops, I get the feeling that the last of defense against The Shield becomes Mark Henry. And I guarantee that face turn gets the biggest pop of the year, so far.

Of course, I'm misquoting him here, but the journalists in Qatar seem to have taken the same liberties. This story is interesting for not only the usual reasons, but to see how WWE is covered in a far-off land where English (SPOILER ALERT)